Dream Log: April 21, 2001 (idea)

I was going to the grocery store with my sister and my friend Allison. We get into the store and begin shopping at the back of the store for some reason. Then out of nowhere we hear screaming, and I tell the two of them to be very quiet. From the front of the store I can hear, "Now I am going to shoot you." So I tell Meredith and Allison that it's time to leave. We slip out the back, through the employees only door, and once outside, they take off running, but for some reason I don't. I hear the gunman coming our way, and then climb a fence to land in the patio area of the townhomes behind the store. The person who lives here does not seem to be home.

I get my cell phone out and call Sloane, just to have someone to talk to... I'm scared and hiding out is making me even more afraid. So I get in touch with him and he asks me where I am. I say, "Hiding behind the patio fence in the townhomes by the store." He asks which one... so I tell him, "Third from the right." He said, "I lived there! If anyone asks why you're there just tell them you know me. Oh yeah, and in case you need it, there's a trapdoor leading to a small storage area underneath the patio." When I hung up the phone, I felt much better.

I walked into the apartment and looked around. It did seem deserted, and if my situation wasn't so frightening I would most likely have explored more, and dreamed of the day that this would be mine, for this was the image of the perfect place I'd always wanted to live. I was finally there, but why now? And why does it still not belong to me?

But there were more pressing concerns; I could see the gunman walking up and down in the courtyard between the store and the townhomes, and decided the best place for me was in the secret storage on the patio. So I slipped back onto the patio, opened the trapdoor (I don't remember how) and dropped into the storage unit, closing the door over me. It was very small, probably about four feet wide and long, and five feet deep; I couldn't stand up in there. It was lined with cardboard U-Haul boxes. I did not want to stay in this place. I heard the gunman walk by the apartment without noticing me.

It got quiet, so I decided to leave. As much as I wanted to stay, I knew I had to get out as soon as I could. So I climbed out of the compartment and over the fence, and started walking towards the street when I saw him. I was by the last townhome in the complex at this time, and I opened its gate and ran inside an office there. I was there for two minutes or so when I heard him call, "I know you're in there, so why don't you just come out?"

I don't know what came over me, but I just decided to get it over with and walked out to meet him. I looked at him, and said without any fear, "Here I am. Are you going to shoot me now?" And he says, "Okay," pulls out his gun, points it at me, and out comes AIR FRESHENER.